Arizona: 2014 Candidates for Congress – Where They Stand
http://familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/arizona-2014-candidates-for-congress-where-they-stand
To see the actual voting records of all incumbents on other issues such as Foreign Policy, Second Amendment Issues, Homeland Security, and other issues as well as their rankings by special interest groups please use the links followed by two stars (**).
U.S. Senate
John McCain (R) Next Election 2016
http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/
Jeff Flake (R) Next Election 2018
http://www.flake.senate.gov/public/
District 1
Ann Kirkpatrick (D) Incumbent
http://kirkpatrick.house.gov/about
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Ann_Kirkpatrick.htm **
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
http://kirkpatrick.house.gov/issues/energy-and-environment
“Ending our dependence on foreign oil and investing in a renewable energy economy are important priorities, but my district has dozens of small towns and thousands of small businesses and working families who cannot afford new burdens. I will not support efforts that would harm the local economies in my district or that lack provisions for responsibly transitioning these communities toward a clean-energy economy. I remain committed to finding innovative ways for us to move forward and jump-start our renewable energy economy. Arizona’s first wind farm is in my district, and I would support efforts to attract more such projects.
NATIONAL SECURITY
http://kirkpatrick.house.gov/issues/national-security
Statement on vote against Amash Amendment and in favor of Nugent Amendment to H.R. 2397
Jul 26, 2013 : “In the United States, we live in a free and open society. This freedom delivers broad civil liberties but demands vigilance against those who would do us harm. I opposed the Amash Amendment to H.R. 2397 because it would hastily dismantle an important counterterrorism tool that protects our nation. A rushed or reckless overhaul is not the answer. As elected leaders, we have a responsibility to balance individual privacy and national security in a careful, strategic manner.
Adam Kwasman (R) Challenger
Adam Kwasman is an economist and member of the Arizona House of Representatives. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and sits on the Appropriations, Commerce, and Joint-Legislative Budget Committees. In the legislature, Adam served as a prime co-sponsor of Transaction Privilege Tax reform, the greatest tax simplification measure in Arizona history.
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
http://www.adamkwasman.com/congress/kwasman-on-the-issues/
“The NGS and Kayenta Mine provide thousands of jobs and have a long term multi-billion dollar impact, while providing affordable energy throughout Arizona. Their future is endangered by radical bureaucrats in the Obama Administration’s EPA. The priority for any representative from this district must be saving the Navajo Generating Station from closure.”
“We must do everything necessary to secure the border and end illegal immigration. Arizona’s illegal immigration problem is a threat to national security, and Washington has failed in protecting our citizens. We must defend the citizens of this state.”
“Obamacare is a monstrosity and must be repealed. It raises taxes, creates uncertainty in the marketplace and has prevented employers from hiring, cuts a quarter trillion dollars from Medicare and puts medical decisions in the hands of unelected bureaucrats while premiums skyrocket. Worse, it will not improve outcomes for patients.
Congress should allow health care to be purchased across state lines, making it more affordable for everyone, enable association health plans, expand Health Savings Accounts, and put patients in charge of their own health care.”
Jim Brown (R) Challenger
http://www.jimbrowntocongress.com/
Andy Tobin (R) Challenger
Gary Kiehne (R) Challenger
http://www.kiehneforcongress.com/
District 2
Ron Barber (D) Incumbent
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Ron_Barber.htm **
Congressman Ron Barber represents Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District – a diverse swath of historic Southeastern Arizona that includes communities as disparate as Tucson, where cutting-edge technology is being developed, and Tombstone, where the echoes of the Gunfight at the OK Corral live on.
Congressman Barber is one of only nine members of the U.S. House who represents a district on the United States-Mexico border. The entire 83-mile border in Cochise County is in Barber’s district.
Because the border is such an important issue for Southeastern Arizona, Congressman Barber fought to serve on the Committee on Homeland Security where he was appointed ranking member of the Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee.
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
MILITARY
http://barber.house.gov/issues/military
District 2is home to two military installations that are vital to our national defense: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, which is one of our nation’s leading tactical command centers, and Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, which provides our service members with some of the best intelligence operations training in the world.
Tucson is also the proud home of the 162nd Fighter Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard, just outside the lines of my district, where many F-16 pilots from around the world are trained. These bases and the work of the many service members, civilian personnel and Southern Arizona’s strong defense industry are imperative to our national security and our local economy.
Martha McSally (R) Challenger
https://mcsallyforcongress.com/
Martha E. McSally is a retired United States Air Force colonel. She was the first American woman to fly in combat since the 1991 lifting of the prohibition of women in combat, flying the A-10 over Iraq.
Democratic Rep. Ron Barber is running for re-election in the Tucson area district that he won by less than 2,500 votes in 2012. Barber will face off against the same Republican challenger he edged out last time – retired Air Force Col. Martha McSally.
National Journal: The Hotline’s House Race Rankings: The House Seats Most Likely to Flip
AZ-02 is listed by National Journal’s The Hotline on their top 10 list of House seats most likely to flip.
District 3
Raul Grijalva (D) Incumbent
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/raul_grijalva.htm **
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
http://grijalva.house.gov/issues-legislation/
While he continues to feel that a single-payer system is the best way to address the need for health care and to control soaring medical costs in our country, he is pleased that Congress has taken steps to enact far-reaching health care reform.
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
Rep. Grijalva has taken the lead on numerous environmental issues in the House of Representatives. He has championed efforts to codify the National Landscape Conservation System, protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, wilderness areas and endangered species, advance the National Park Service Centennial Initiative, protect the Grand Canyon from the threat of expanded uranium mining, advance ecological restoration on Federal lands, address the need for a budget fix for wildland fire suppression funding, and expand the role of young adults and youth in working in our public lands.
CARBON DIOXIDE AND CLIMATE – The primary sources of carbon dioxide emissions are electricity generation and ground transportation vehicles. Rep. Grijalva supports renewable energy standards to increase the amount of electricity generation from pollution-free wind, solar and other renewable sources. He held a press conference at Global Solar Energy June 27 to speak about the importance of renewable power to the environment and the economy. He believes we must facilitate large scale solar and wind projects in an environmentally responsible way, through loans and grant programs with proper site selection.
IMMIGRATION
Comprehensive immigration reform is one of his top legislative priorities. The U.S. immigration system needs fundamental reform. Throughout his public life, Rep. Grijalva has advocated an immigration policy that is fair, preserves family unity and honors immigrants’ significant contributions to our nation. “We must create a pathway to legalize the millions of undocumented immigrants who have made lives for themselves and their families in the United States. Rep. Grijalva believes it is essential to require undocumented immigrants to register with the government, submit to a criminal background check, pay any back taxes and pay a penalty to begin the process of earning permanent residency. We must bring people out of the shadows and protect our national security by accounting for all those who reside within our borders.”
Gabrielle Saucedo Mercer (R) Challenger
http://saucedomercer.com/issues/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
It’s time to get the Keystone Pipeline and other lucrative energy projects moving forward. Exploring and drilling for energy right here in America would immediately put Americans back to work in good paying jobs and lower our trade deficit.
Southern Arizona stands in the vanguard for energy security with the proposed Yuma Refinery. It is not enough to find and drill out the oil, it must then be refined for our use. This refinery is a state of the art facility that can responsibly increase this nation’s capacity to refine oil. The construction and operation of this plant will also provide many new jobs in an area currently experiencing high unemployment. I support the construction of this project.
HEALTHCARE
We need real reforms that increase competition and more customer choice. I support the purchase of insurance across state lines, improving the options for personal health savings accounts, personal tax deductions for the cost of health care premiums, and tort reform to address the hidden cost of defensive medicine. It is these free market solutions that will lead to truly affordable and sustainable care which allows consumers to decide what type of healthcare they want or need.
When elected, I will make it one of my priorities to push for the repeal of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) in the next Congressional session. We do not need Socialized medicine. Medicaid is already available to aid those unfortunate people who cannot pay for their healthcare and can be tweaked to cover those in need.
IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL SECURITY
The United States is a sovereign nation. We need to maintain the integrity of our borders while finding reasonable, balanced, and sustainable immigration policies to accommodate those good people from other nations who want to join us. I support LEGAL immigration. People who would like to become citizens of the United States should apply from their home country and follow the proper procedures, which need to be streamlined and improved.
The federal government can no longer ignore the drug cartels and human smugglers operating along the border. In Southern Arizona we live with this reality daily. We must secure our borders in order to protect this nation from these criminal organizations. I support completing the border fence and hiring more Border Patrol agents so we can properly secure our nation.
We need to re-establish and strengthen our connections with our allies in other countries and find strong and effective methods to deter our enemies.
District 4
Paul Gosar, M.D. (R) Incumbent
http://www.gosar4congress.com/
Tea Party Conservative
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Paul_Gosar.htm **
http://www.gosar4congress.com/issues/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
He has supported legislation that will expand offshore and onshore oil and gas production, authorize the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, remove bureaucratic red tape that prohibits the development of renewable energy projects across our state, and implements tort reforms so environmental groups cannot block economic development via excessive litigation at the taxpayer’s expense.
HEALTHCARE
The President’s health care law known as Obamacare is, in large part, what motivated Dr. Gosar to run for Congress. That is how devastating he believes this law will be to the future of this country. It is a job killer: The National Federation of Independent Business, the largest organization representing American small business, estimates that the law will cost 1.6 million jobs. It punishes American people and businesses by levying hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes. Even the economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate it will add $311 billion to the deficit by 2019. It will add nearly 16 million Americans to Medicaid, a program that is failing the very needy for whom the program was designed while sabotaging the budgets of many states including Arizona. As our nation’s baby boom generation prepares for retirement, Obamacare leaves Medicare in a death spiral as current estimates show Medicare Part A will be insolvent in a matter of years. Obamacare is unconstitutional to boot, both in statute and in practice: the individual mandate stomps on the principles our Founders intended while the Department of Health and Human Services has exercised its authority under this law to enact a decision that violates the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.
IMMIGRATION
“I strongly believe we need to immediately secure our border and oppose amnesty for anyone who blatantly violates our law.” – Dr. Paul Gosar
The Federal Government has completely failed its constitutional, legal and moral duty to secure our borders. As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations, Dr. Gosar has held the Obama Administration’s feet to the fire over its failures to protect the citizens of Arizona and our country.
Dr. Gosar knows, first and foremost, that the federal government must secure the border. Dr. Gosar was the only Republican in the Arizona House Congressional Delegation to support legislation which provides for the highest number of border patrol officers and agents in our country’s history. Additionally, he has cosponsored legislation that will authorize additional national guard troops to the border, provide double layer fencing and authorize, end catch and release policies, and eliminate government regulations that prevent the brave men and women on the border from doing their jobs.
The United States is a nation of immigrants but more importantly is a nation of laws. The country needs to start immigration reform by enforcing our current laws. Dr. Gosar opposed President Obama’s efforts to grant administrative “backdoor” amnesty and has cosponsored a bill, the Halt Act, that will legislatively stop his efforts.
DEFENSE
Dr. Gosar is a champion of a strong national defense, an advocate for the men and women of America’s Armed Forces and their families, a top watch dog, fighting to return fiscal discipline to the Department of Defense. As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Dr. Gosar has led the fight to expose waste, fraud, and abuse in all forms of government. All branches of government should be better stewards of taxpayer dollar, including the Department of Defense. Common-sense reforms would go a long way towards addressing our debt crisis.
Mikel Weisser (D) Challenger
Mikel Weisser is a social studies teacher, poet, and activist with progressive vision and energy.
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
TEA PARTY LIES- http://mikelweisser.blogspot.com/2014/01/draft-addressing-tea-party-lies.html
“Tea Party policies and the rhetoric of their leaders are willfully damaging America’s economy and social fabric and threaten our future. Endless ACA attacks, Benghazi boondoggles, debt ceiling showdowns, government shutdowns, gutting education, cutting unemployment and food stamps, while protecting Wall St wolves; these acts verge on treason. If America is to have a future, the Tea Party must be stopped.”
BEGGING THE GOP TO CARE ABOUT AMERICANS: http://mikelweisser.blogspot.com/2014/01/draft-begging-gop-to-care-about.html
District 5
Matt Salmon (R) Incumbent
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Matt_Salmon.htm **
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
http://www.salmonforcongress.com/on-the-issues/
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
AUG. 2013 Washington-Today, Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ-05) released on the following statement urging President Obama to approve the Keystone Pipeline as soon as possible.
“It has been over 1700 days since the application for the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada was submitted to the State Department. This persistent delay is costing us an opportunity for American jobs and Western Hemisphere energy independence. Even today, TransCanada announced a new pipeline to the eastern coast that will allow Canadian oil to be shipped overseas – bypassing American refineries and workers. It is way past due for the President and his State Department to do what is right for the American people and approve the Keystone Pipeline.”
HEALTHCARE
http://www.salmonforcongress.com/on-the-issues/health-care-reform/
In Congress, I will join the fight to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a system that puts individual patients and families in control of their own health care plans, not a government bureaucrat. I will support health care reform that increases market-based competition and uses free-market solutions to drive down costs for consumers. I believe solving our healthcare crisis will also require major tort reform in order to prevent insurance companies and physicians from passing on additional costs to consumers. By increasing transparency and competition, Congress can make the positive and lasting changes that will lower healthcare costs and give affordable options to every American.
No Challenger Has Filed
District 6
David Schweikert (R) Incumbent
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/David_Schweikert.htm **
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
http://schweikert.house.gov/press-releases
Chairman Schweikert Introduces Legislation to End EPA’s Use Of Secret Science
02/06/14
Washington D.C., February 6, 2014 — Members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology today joined with House Environment Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) to introduce the Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 (H.R. 4012), a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proposing regulations based upon science that is not transparent or not reproducible.
Rep. Schweikert: Keystone offers the president an opportunity to keep his promise
Washington D.C., February 1, 2014– After the State Department released findings on the environmental impact of the Keystone XL Pipeline, Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ), House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on the Environment Chairman released the following statement:
HEALTHCARE
http://schweikert.house.gov/health-care
07-Jan-14Press ReleasesRep. Schweikert: President’s Health Care Plan Not “Fit for Consumption” – Should Be Replaced with American Health Care Reform Act.
IMMIGRATION
http://schweikert.house.gov/immigration
As Arizonans we understand and have seen first-hand the negative effects that illegal immigration has on our communities. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration seems unwilling to address this growing problem and has instead pursued an open border agenda that will leave our state more vulnerable. That is why I have made securing our border and ending illegal immigration a priority while serving in Congress. I believe the first step of any immigration policy must be to secure our borders and end the flow of illegal immigration into our country.
Further we must remove the magnets that draw people here illegally. As long as opportunities for employment exist, the incentive to enter the United States illegally or to overstay visas will continue and efforts to stop illegal entry at U.S. borders will be undermined.
Most importantly, it is time for Washington to stop making excuses and abdicating its responsibility to enforce our immigration laws. I assure you I will continue to advocate for a strong immigration policy that secures our borders and ends illegal immigration.
No Challengers Have Filed
District 7
Ed Pastor (D) Incumbent
http://www.pastor.house.gov/#dialog
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Ed_Pastor.htm **
Since his election, Congressman Pastor has served on the House Appropriations Committee, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the Education and Labor Committee, and the Committee on Small Business. He also has served as a Chief Deputy Whip. Currently in the 113th Congress, Ed serves on the House Appropriations Committee and sits on three subcommittees: the Subcommittee of Energy and Water Development; the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies – where he is the Ranking Democratic Member; and the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. He also was appointed to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 113th Congress. Ed also serves on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.
Cesar Chavez (D) Challenger
http://chavezcongress.blogspot.com/
Ruben Gallego (D) Challenger
http://www.gallegoforarizona.com/
District 8
Trent Franks (R) Incumbent
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/trent_franks.htm **
http://trentfranks.com/issues/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
Congressman Franks believes that a government take-over of our healthcare system would crush the quality, increase the cost, and diminished the dignity of the patient. He worked hard to oppose the Democrat backroom deals and strong-arming that took place before the Obama-Pelosi healthcare vote. Trent believes the answer to affordable care is empowering patients to generate competition and innovation within the private sector.
ISRAEL
Congressman Trent Franks is Chairman of the Israel allies Caucus in the United States House of Representatives, the only official pro-Israel caucus in Congress. Trent believes the nation of Israel is the greatest friend and ally America has the world. He is deeply committed to the security and success of the Jewish state. His vote has always and will always reflect that commitment.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Congressman Franks is the Founding Chairman of the Bi-Partisan Missile Defense Caucus. As Chairman, he has been striving to see that the U.S. has a robust missile defense system so that countries like North Korea and Iran do not have the ability to successfully attack America with ballistic missiles. He is the author of multiple bills and amendments supporting missile defense. He is also the author of the strongest bill in the Congress for the prevention of a nuclear Iran.
Hekmuth Hack (R) Challenger
https://sites.google.com/site/helmuth4con/biography
District 9
Kyrsten Synema (D) Incumbent
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Kyrsten_Sinema.htm **
Sinema stood up to Brewer on education, and she’ll stand up to Republicans in Congress who are trying to dictate to women about personal health care decisions like access to birth control-instead of creating jobs and getting our economy back on track.
She’ll work with both parties to move our country forward, like she worked with Republicans on jobs and veterans issues, but she also never backs down from her core progressive values-fighting for women and families, and standing up against the rich and powerful to be a voice for the forgotten middle class.
Wendy Rogers (R) Challenger
“Repeal, replace, replenish” http://www.wendyrogers.org/issues/health-care/
“I am not a politician or career bureaucrat. I am a wife, mother, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and a start-up small business owner. And I’ll make this promise to the people of Arizona – I will fight to repeal Obamacare; I will cut spending and debt; I will get government out of the way of small businesses; and I will pass a balanced budget amendment” http://www.wendyrogers.org/issues/health-care/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
http://www.wendyrogers.org/issues/energy-independence/
America has energy resources but Kyrsten Sinema and the radical special interests in Congress won’t allow their safe utilization of them. Meanwhile, we languish as importers reliant upon the whims of terrorist despots and Middle East sheiks who use their oil and gas supplies to dictate international politics. Each year, America imports more than $400 billion in energy. Thanks to Kyrsten Sinema, Barack Obama and their liberal special interests, we are stuck in a cycle of borrowing money from China to buy oil from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Wouldn’t it be better to spend those dollars here at home?
In Congress, I will support policies like the Keystone XL Pipeline and other projects with bipartisan support which would create jobs and reduce America’s devastating and costly reliance on foreign oil. In the case of the Keystone project, as many as 100,000 American jobs could be created, but still the Obama administration rejects the proposal.
HEALTHCARE
http://www.wendyrogers.org/issues/health-care/
In her first five months in Congress, Kyrsten Sinema has already TWICE voted to fund and implement Obamacare, the signature, self-named health care leviathan which will ultimately serve as Barack Obama’s legislative legacy. If I were in Congress now, I would have twice voted to repeal and defund this bill.
The simple fact is that Obamacare increases health care premiums on Arizona families, the exact opposite of its intended goal. It raises taxes on employers, which will ultimately cost Arizona jobs. And it included more than $700 billion in cuts to Medicare, which will deliver added woes to Arizona seniors already struggling to balance limited incomes with increasing medical costs.
Andrew Walter (R) Challenger
Andrew was born in Arizona and attended college at Arizona State University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. While at ASU, Andrew was a record-setting quarterback on the football team and the team’s only three-year captain. He also set numerous Pac-10 passing records.
Andrew’s hard work, will to overcome adversity, and demonstrated calm under pressure made him a highly sought-after prospect in the 2005 NFL Draft, where he was selected 69th overall by the Oakland Raiders. Andrew played in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots.
http://andrewwalter2014.com/index.php/issues/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
http://andrewwalter2014.com/index.php/issues/true-healthcare-reform/
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, amounts to a government takeover of your healthcare decisions. This law has cancelled the health care policies of millions and threatens to cancel the policies of millions more. Obamacare raises more than $800 billion in taxes and fees on the backs of families and hardworking taxpayers. Obamacare was rammed through without compromise in the dead of night, on a purely partisan vote – and no one even read the bill. We must repeal this disastrous law and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs and increase quality for everyone. Real reforms allow choice and competition to enter the healthcare marketplace, which will increase accessibility, increase quality, increase coverage options, decrease government mandates, and decrease costs.
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